The Philadelphia 76ers dropped Game 1 at home to the Atlanta Hawks, losing homecourt advantage in the process. While the return of Joel Embiid provided some optimism for the organization as did a much improved effort in the second half of the opener, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey’s week became even tougher on Monday evening. The NBA announced that Morey has been fined $75,000 for an errant tweet, sent earlier this month, involving Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry congratulating his brother Seth on a big Game 5 performance
The following was released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/Iek8JNZ3fB
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) June 7, 2021
Morey’s fine took a long and winding road, beginning with a series-clinching win over the Washington Wizards. Following that win, Morey fired off a tweet in response to a social media post from 76ers guard Seth Curry, who had a tremendous game in the clincher.
join ’em pic.twitter.com/ta2mxXO92O
— Daryl MorΞy (@dmorey) June 3, 2021
Within seconds, Morey’s tweet made the rounds, with many pointing to potential tampering. Seemingly sensing that he could be in hot water with the league, Morey tried to do damage control, pivoting to an insistence that his tweet was merely in congratulations of Seth, rather than open recruitment of Steph.
My goodness folks I am talking about the fact that we are all thrilled @sdotcurry is here with the @sixers — nothing else!
— Daryl MorΞy (@dmorey) June 3, 2021
Obviously, this effort did not prove fruitful for Morey. In the grand scheme, the fine is a drop in the bucket for Morey after years as a top-flight executive, but the NBA apparently felt that it needed to send a message. In the end, no tweet “clarification” was going to be enough to avoid the league’s wrath.